Heather Marsden
Senior Lecturer

Profile

Biography

Heather Marsden works primarily in second language (L2) acquisition, focussing on the L2 acquisition of phenomena at the syntax–semantics interface, with a special interest in the L2 acquisition of Japanese and other East Asian languages.

She obtained her first degree in Japanese Studies at the University of Cambridge, and a Diploma in Translation (Japanese to English) from the Chartered Institute of Linguists. She worked as a translator, a language teacher, and a language teaching materials editor, before beginning her academic career in Linguistics with an MA and PhD at the University of Durham.

Career

• University of Cambridge
  BA Japanese Studies
• University of Durham
  MA Linguistics
• University of Durham
  PhD Linguistics (2004)
• Newcastle University
  ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2004 - 2006)
• University of York
  Lecturer (2007 - 2016)
  Senior Lecturer (2016 - present)

Departmental roles

• Chair of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee
• Athena Swan Lead

Research

Overview

My research investigates multilingual language acquisition from the perspective of generative linguistic theory. I am particularly interested in the second (or non-native) language (L2) acquisition of linguistic structure at the interfaces of syntax with semantics and discourse, and in the role of input in shaping acquisition. I use psycholinguistic methods to investigate questions such as the following:

1. How does the linguistic structure of a previously acquired language affect acquisition in a subsequent language (whether the previous language is a "native" language or a "second", "third", etc. language)?
2. How do L2 learners acquire linguistic knowledge for which there is no evidence in the input?
3. How does the content of grammar instruction affect acquisition of linguistic structure?

I am also interested in research that integrates L2 acquisition theory and language teaching practice, both at the level of collaborative research and at the level of knowledge exchange. I am particularly interested in the L2 acquisition of East Asian languages, and of languages commonly taught at secondary level in the UK (Spanish, German and French).

Projects

• Interpreting prosody in a second language: cross-linguistic influence in the acquisition of Korean prosody
• Psycholinguistic methods in the language classroom
• Meaning in Language Learning (2014 - 2016)

Teaching

Undergraduate

• Linguistic Approaches to Second Language Acquisition
• Language acquisition

Postgraduate

• Linguistic Approaches to Second Language Acquisition
• First and second language acquisition

External activities

Invited talks and conferences

Selected invited talks

• 2021 - Ambient input, instructed input, and absent input: A reflection on L2 acquisition in different input conditions. Plenary Talk at International Conference of the Japan Second Language Association, Tokyo (held online). 
• 2018 - Using Case to predict in the German language classroom: a pilot study. Language Acquisition, Variation and Attrition Group Seminar, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø.
• 2018 - Insights for teacher-researcher collaboration, from theoretical linguistic SLA research on English and Spanish. Second language acquisition: linguistic and pedagogical perspectives workshop, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø. 
• 2017 - Searching for a common language: where do GenSLA research and the language classroom meet? Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition (GASLA 14), University of Southampton.

Recent conference papers

• 2023 - Crosslinguistic influence and proficiency in L2 and L3 knowledge of aspect in Japanese (poster). 32nd Conference of the European Second Language Association (EuroSLA 32), Birmingham, UK. (with A. Hendra & L. Roberts).
• 2022 - The grammar of experience and the acquisition of NPIs: Ever and Any show different paths of acquisition in Chinese and Korean L2 speakers of English.Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition (GASLA16), Trondheim, Norway. . (with N. Grillo, K-H Gil, N. Radkevich, S. Sloggett, G. Tsoulas, N. Yeo).
• 2021 - L2 acquisition of the Japanese associative plural marker “tati”. 46th Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (held online). (with K. Kume).